IBF Chairman: Hopkins must start negotiations with Kovalev

Bernard Hopkins was originally scheduled to defend his title against Karo Murat on July 13.

Nat Castaneda/AP

Main Events does not want to pass up a guaranteed opportunity to fight for the IBF title, only to have a fight with Cleverly fall apart. However HBO -- which does not do Golden Boy fights and, presumably, would not be interested in a Kovalev-Hopkins fight -- wants the Cleverly fight, and by passing on it, Main Events could severely damage a relationship with HBO at a time when it has several fighters on its radar. In addition to Kovalev, Main Events promotes middleweight contender Curtis Stevens and co-promotes, along with Russell Peltz, heavyweight contender Bryant Jennings.

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